Harbaugh: “The play we called in the huddle was a loser and we didn’t have an audible.”

SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh spoke to Bay Area reporters in the 49ers media tent Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said about Colin Kaepernick.

Q: Are you ready to name Colin Kaepernick the starting quarterback going forward, or will you still make that announcement on a week-by-week basis?

HARBAUGH: “We’ve got faith and trust in Colin, in the way he’s played. Therefore, another start this week.”

Q: How quickly can he develop and learn as an NFL quarterback in the line of fire? Is that a good way to develop?

HARBAUGH: “I think so. I think that’s the best way.”

Q: In the brief time that he’s started for you, how has he developed? How has he gotten better?

HARBAUGH: “Several things. You don’t know until you actually see him out there in the fire with that mental toughness. After a couple tough plays last week, to come back the way he did – we always knew he had that, but he had a chance to display that. He’s done a great job getting out of trouble and extending plays. He’s been very accurate throwing the football. Done a lot of good things.”

Q: How much of a teachable moment was the fumbled option pitch?

HARBAUGH: “It’s teachable in a lot of ways. Like I said, I take the greatest share of that responsibility. You don’t put your team in that position. That’s the responsibility of the head coach, to put them in the best possible position to be successful and win the game.

“But also, managing a bad play for Colin – that’s something that he’ll learn. The play we called in the huddle was a loser and we didn’t have an audible. But also, when they play is going bad, you try not to make it any worse. Good thing for him to learn.”

Q: I don’t know if the Rams did anything revolutionary, but do you think Kaepernick will see more of the stuff the Rams did this week and going forward?

HARBAUGH: Yeah, I think you definitely have to prepare for that and expect that.

Q: It seems like they were forcing you to go with the short passing game quite a bit. Has he improved his short passes?

HARBAUGH: He’s shown good touch on the short passes and the ability to see the field and see the check downs.

Q: When you’re doing film review with him, what’s he like?

HARBAUGH: The same that you see. Very focused, very concentrated, competitive, even in film study. He wants to learn and get better and improve. He’s on it. He communicates what he saw and what he was thinking.